Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a toner for use in recording methods employing electrophotographic methods, electrostatic recording methods and toner jet recording methods.
Description of the Related Art
In recent years, printers and copiers have been subject to demands for reductions in power consumption. The toners used in printers and copiers are fixed on media by heating and melting. To reduce power consumption, it is necessary to achieve so-called low-temperature fixability, in which the toner is fixed to the medium at a lower temperature without adverse effects. Various technical approaches have been attempted to meet these demands. One of these is to control the position of a wax in the toner interior. A wax contained in a toner is exuded on the toner surface when the toner is heated and melted, and functions to control the problem of melted toner adhering to fixing members such as rollers. Oil-less fixing can be achieved by means of this effect. In the case of a low-temperature fixing process, however, because the melted wax is less fluid and the toner is less likely to be deformed by the melting process, the exudation property of the wax is reduced, making the toner more difficult to separate from the fixing member. This has led to problems of fixing defects.
In order to facilitate wax exudation even in low-temperature fixing processes, toners have been developed in which the wax is distributed eccentrically near the surface layer of the toner.
Japanese Patent No. 5634252 discloses a toner in which a large amount of wax is located near the outermost toner surface (to a depth of 0.3 μm from the surface) as opposed to the surface region below the outermost surface (up to a depth of 1.0 μm from the surface).
Japanese Patent No. 5446792 discloses a toner in which wax exudation near the outermost toner surface (up to a depth of 0.3 μm from the surface) during heating is facilitated by causing the wax to move to near the toner surface layer during the manufacturing process.